


Duty of Care

by Kalkasar (Mordhena)



Category: Star Trek: Enterprise
Genre: Banter, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Flirting, Guilt, M/M, Some Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-09 07:08:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27120034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mordhena/pseuds/Kalkasar
Summary: An answer to the following challenge posted on a mailing list (challenge author unknown):"Please do write stories (drabbles, 5 minute pieces, whatever) in which Malcolmfaints for one reason or another."
Relationships: Malcolm Reed & Charles "Trip" Tucker III, Malcolm Reed/Charles "Trip" Tucker III
Comments: 7
Kudos: 42





	Duty of Care

**Author's Note:**

> I've always loved Malcolm and Trip's way of bantering with each other, and that came very much to the fore in this story.  
> This is also one of my favorite stories of all the Tucker/Reed Fic I have written. It holds a very special place in my heart.  
> I hope you enjoy it.

"Get it open! Hurry up!" Trip Tucker was frantic as he yelled at himself in the shuttle bay.  
  
Shuttle pod 2 was a wreck, scorched paintwork everywhere and one massive dent just where the door opening mechanism was located. He could hear the frantic pounding from the other side of the door, but it was growing fainter and more sporadic as the air supply within must be getting thin by now.  
  
Tucker gritted his teeth, deciding to save his breath for concentrating on wrenching the door open.  
  
He swore softly as he worked with suddenly trembling fingers. The desperate pounding from inside the pod had stopped.  
  
Finally, with a clunk and a faint hiss the door came free and flipped upwards. Tucker ducked under it immediately, peering into the hazy interior of the craft.  
  
"Malcolm!"  
  
A groan from inside, the sound of labored breathing; footsteps and then Tucker had to step back and bend his knees to absorb Malcolm's weight as he staggered to the hatch and fainted into Tucker's arms.  
  
Easing him to the floor, Tucker glanced over his shoulder as the shuttle bay doors slid open to admit Phlox, closely followed by the captain, and sub-commander T'Pol.  
  
"Here!" he yelled. He moved back so the doctor could get to Reed and then with an exclamation he bolted for the shuttle. "O'hara's still inside!" he said as he ducked into the small vessel.  
  
He found the crewman lying in the recovery position on the floor near the back of the shuttle. He had a nasty gash to his forehead, and one arm was positioned at an odd angle. He was breathing, but his color wasn't good. Tucker moved back to the hatch, poking his head out to see Reed beginning to show signs of recovery.  
  
"Doc! I think you'd better come take a look," he said.  
  
  
\---  
  
Two hours later, Tucker quit working on repairs to the shuttle-pod and headed for the mess hall and a much needed cup of coffee. He shook his head, wondering how Malcolm had managed to pilot the shuttle out of the atmosphere of what turned out to be a fairly volatile planet, tend to O'Hara's injuries and get within grappling range, all whilst battling decreasing pressure and oxygen in the cabin.  
  
Initial examinations of the pod showed a fissure in the hull, which accounted for the loss of air. Life Support was knocked out when flying rocks impacted the shuttle after a volcanic eruption had taken the two-man team unawares. Emergency life support had failed just moments before _Enterprise_ managed to grapple the pod and pull it into the ship.  
  
 _And then it took me a few more minutes to get the hatch open._ Tucker frowned and shook his head. That both Malcolm and Kenny O'Hara, affectionately known to his crewmates as 'Scarlett', had survived was nothing short of amazing.  
  
Entering the mess hall, Tucker was surprised to see Malcolm seated at a table nursing a hot cup of tea between his hands. He looked pale and thoughtful, but he seemed okay otherwise.  
  
Fetching a cup of coffee, the engineer walked over to where Reed sat.  
  
"Mind if I join ya?"  
  
Reed looked up, clouded grey eyes clearing as he smiled and waved Tucker to a seat.  
  
"Please!"  
  
"You're up an' about sooner than I would've expected." Tucker sipped his coffee and smacked his lips. "That sure is good," he remarked, setting the cup on the table in front of him.  
  
Reed nodded, staring into his cup. "The doctor and I have reached an understanding," he said. "I won't do anything strenuous for the next 48 hours, and he won't have to listen to me grumbling about being confined to sickbay."  
  
"How's O'Hara?"  
  
"Oh, he's progressing well. The doctor reset his arm, and the gash on his head wasn't as bad as it looked. Head wounds tend to bleed a lot." Malcolm seemed distracted.  
  
Eyeing him carefully, Tucker took another sip of hot coffee.  
  
"So...somethin' else is worryin' ya."  
  
"Hm?" Reed glanced at him. "Oh no...it's nothing; well nothing much, anyway."  
  
"Uh-huh...you're a lousy liar, Malcolm." Tucker leaned back in his chair. "Out with it."  
  
Reed sighed and shook his head.  
  
"I suppose I am just being silly," he muttered. "I just can't believe that I didn't think to pull Scarlett out with me when you got that hatch up." He frowned. "I was remiss in my duty of care to him."  
  
Tucker almost choked on a mouthful of coffee and only barely avoided spraying the liquid all over the table top.  
  
"Remiss!" He stared at Malcolm in disbelief. "How is it remiss, when ya had the guy over on his side, so he couldn't choke, ya did the best ya could do with the bleedin'; ya...Malcolm have ya taken leave of ya senses? Lack of oxygen damage ya brain or somethin'?"  
  
Reed just sighed and shook his head.  
  
"You were starvin' fer air by the time I got that hatch loose. Instinct takes over in that situation, Malcolm. You dived out the door and fainted from lack of oxygen! What did ya expect to do?"  
  
"That's just it." Malcolm said, his voice carrying a hint of irritation. "I was only thinking of myself!"  
  
"That's crazy thinkin' Malcolm." Tucker leaned forward over the table for emphasis. "Just quit it, will ya? O'Hara's goin' t'be okay, and most of that is because of what ya did for him."  
  
Reed nodded reluctantly, but his expression lightened a little. He looked up and met Tucker's eyes. "I didn't get the chance earlier," he murmured, 'but I want to thank you for... getting us out of there in time." He smiled and the shadows fled from his grey eyes. "I'm in your debt... again."  
  
"All I did was catch ya when ya fainted from hypoxia." Tucker smirked. "It was real romantic."  
  
"Faint?" Reed scowled. "Reeds do not faint from lack of oxygen. We simply die... very dramatically."  
  
"Faint real dramatically too." Tucker grinned and ducked his head at the thundercloud expression that began to gather on his friend's face. "Remember, no weapons allowed in the mess hall." He said in an undertone.  
  
"Very well, you leave me no choice, Mister Tuckah! I'll have to kill you with my bare hands."  
  
Tucker pushed his tongue into his cheek and met amused grey eyes across the table. "I c'n hardly wait," he ventured, delighting in the sudden blush that rose to Reed's cheeks.  
  
Tucker had been dancing around taking their relationship to a deeper level for a few weeks. He had thought on several occasions that there was something more than friendship reflected in Malcolm's eyes when he looked into them. Now he decided to screw up his courage and make a more overt advance.  
  
"Maybe it'd be better though, if ya did the deed in my cabin? No witnesses, easier to cover up?"  
  
Malcolm stared at him in silence and his mouth almost dropped open before he collected himself and snapped his jaws closed with an audible click of teeth. He blinked a few times and then, his voice for Tucker's ears alone, he said.  
  
"Nothing would give me greater pleasure."  
  
Tucker got to his feet. "Okay...so what are y'waitin' for'?" His heart beat faster and he noticed he was trembling again, but this time it was for a very different, and more pleasant reason.  
  
  
~Fin~


End file.
